Athletic Club Will Conduct Preseason Training In Switzerland

Athletic Club’s preseason training begins in just 16 days from now. The players and coaches will have roughly two weeks left to enjoy their vacations and time off before reporting back to Bilbao to begin preparing for the new season. In recent years under Ernesto Valverde the team has traveled internationally to train away from home and that is something that Cuco Ziganda will be continuing in his first year in charge of the first team.

According to a report from El Correo, Athletic will travel to Switzerland during their preseason training and will play at least two friendlies in preparation for the season beginning on 27 July in Europe League play. This will be, in principle, the first matches that the Basque giants have even played in the country of Switzerland.

Everyone will report return to Bilbao to begin training on 3 July and a few days later the team is expected to travel to Canton Valais, near the capital city of Sion, where they will set up their training ground to work in the high altitudes. While there, the Lions will play their friendly against Servette FC on 12 July in the city of Lens, and they are expected to have at least one more friendly in the area. Right now rumors suggest that the Basques could compete against FC Sion who are a member of the Swiss top flight, but there is no conformation at this point.

Athletic will also play a friendly against French side Marseille on 21 July, one week before the Lions play the first leg of the Europe League qualifier. According to the report, this match will take place in the city of Provence at one of the local stadiums. Details of this match have yet to be finalized, though sources do believe that it could be announced very soon. Even though the season will have officially begun, Athletic will also face off with Liverpool on 5 August in Ireland in what is expected to be a huge friendly match for both sides. The Basques will need to finalize their preseason schedule soon so fans should expect some form of announcement in the near future.